Piece of My Heart (Fostering Love 4)

Before I could reply, her phone rang, interrupting us. She reached for it and accidentally knocked over the blender, sending pureed fruit flying across the countertop.

“Shit,” she hissed, bringing the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

I wasn’t really paying attention to her conversation as we both tried to mop up the mess, but when she went still beside me, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

“Of course,” she murmured, her eyes meeting mine. “We’ll be right there.”

“What is it?” I asked as she hung up the phone.

“We need to go get Hailey,” she said, tossing the towel she’d been using to clean up onto the counter. “Right now.”

“What happened?” I asked, following her to the bedroom.

She grabbed her coat and purse from the bed and shook her head. “She said Sean freaked out. He was angry about something—I didn’t understand that part, but she said he went nuts. She needs to get out of there.”

“You’re not going over there if he’s acting like a douche,” I said, planting myself in our bedroom doorway. “I’ll go get her.”

“She said he took off,” Sarai replied. “He’s not there anymore.”

“Then why does she need us to come get her?” My mind was racing. I wasn’t real excited about walking into a situation that I wasn’t sure about, and I damn sure wasn’t going to let Sarai anywhere near it.

“She said she’s had too much to drink—”

“It’s eleven in the morning,” I said flatly.

“And?” Sarai asked, pulling on her coat. “I told her I’d come get her.”

“Okay,” I said, grabbing a coat out of our closet. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to stop her without a fight. “Then let’s go.”

We were quiet as we drove over to Hailey and Sean’s house.

I should have been preparing myself. I should have been paying closer attention to my surroundings as we’d pulled up to their house. I should have planned ahead and thought about worst-case scenarios, but I didn’t.

I wasn’t prepared when Hailey met us at her front door, her face covered in bruises.

Fury hit me so hard and fast that I took a step backward so I wouldn’t scare her. I was going to fucking kill Sean.

“I packed a bag,” Hailey said, swallowing hard. She was mumbling like it hurt to speak. “I got most of the important stuff.”

She stepped onto the porch without inviting us in.

“Oh, God, Hailey,” Sarai murmured, her breath catching on a sob as she reached for her friend. “Are you okay? Your poor face.”

“I just want to go, all right?” Hailey replied, shying away from her touch. “Can you drive my car? I’m afraid if I leave it here…” Her voice trailed off.

“Of course,” Sarai said, glancing at me. “We can do that. Whatever you need.”

“Is there anything else you want me to grab?” I asked Hailey, trying to keep my voice level and calm. She was glancing around like she thought Sean was going to jump out of the bushes, and she didn’t need me to lose my shit and scare her even worse.

“No,” she said. “Thank you, but no.”

“Okay,” Sarai said, putting her hand gently on Hailey’s arm. “Let’s just go.”

I took Hailey’s bags from her and carried them to her car, stuffing them in the backseat while she and Sarai climbed into the front.

“I’ll follow you home,” I told Sarai, closing the back door so I could lean in the driver’s side.

“Sounds good,” she said. She was preoccupied with sliding the seat up so she could reach the pedals, so I closed the door without kissing her. It was raining and I didn’t want her to get wet, but I should have kissed her.

I climbed in my truck and started it up as Sarai backed out of the driveway. Putting the truck in reverse, I turned to look out the back window with one arm over the passenger seat.

The tail end of Hailey’s car pulled out into the quiet street, and I watched in horror as a truck going twice as fast as it should have been plowed into the driver’s side. My heart stopped as the car spun in a wild circle and the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass filled the air. It happened so fucking fast.

Later, I wouldn’t remember putting the truck in park or running toward the accident, but I must have done both. I also wouldn’t remember reaching through the driver’s-side window to unlock the door so I could get to Sarai, but the long cuts on my forearms from broken glass would prove I did that, too.

Someone called 9-1-1, but it wasn’t me. Someone pulled Hailey out of the car, but it wasn’t me. Someone also tackled Sean to the ground as he tried to run away from the scene, but that wasn’t me, either.

I was too busy trying to wake Sarai up and yelling at anyone who tried to touch or move her.